Fear is a malleable weapon.
A group of rebels from the Separatist planet Onderon seeks the help of the Jedi Order in freeing their home. The Council decides to heed Anakin's advice, and sends him, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex to teach them how they can conduct their war in the most efficient way possible.
Tropes:
- Anachronic Order: Adi Gallia, who is killed in the previous episode, appears on the Jedi Council, which means this episode is set prior to "Revival" (5:01).
- Boom, Headshot!: Rex says that headshots are the only decisive way to kill a Separatist droid, a combat move he's particularly fond of.
- Call-Back: Ahsoka and Lux discuss their adventure on Carlac back in "A Friend in Need".
- Call-Forward: Anakin finds Steela's marksmanship "Impressive. Most impressive."
- Continuity Nod:
- While teaching the rebels how to fight droidekas, Ahsoka tells them that a distraction from the front coupled with an attack from behind where they're blind will give them a kill... as memorably demonstrated by Rex in "Landing at Point Rain", walking through a droideka's shield from behind while it was distracted by Ahsoka.
- To the old Legends canon—not only is the first sight of Onderon one of dense jungle while its capital city is named Iziz, the rebels are shown riding various monstrous fauna, which is a reference to the titular "Beast Riders of Onderon" which were introduced in Tales of the Jedi. However, since the "demon moon" Dxun is not mentioned, presumably these creatures are native to the planet.*
- Cranial Processing Unit: The rebels are trained to shoot Separatist droids in the head; even a limbless battle droid can still transmit intelligence to headquarters if its head is intact.
- Friendly Sniper: Steela, and she's quite proud of her abilities.
- Gray-and-Gray Morality: This episode opens with the Jedi pondering the wisdom of training terrorists (an insurgency) against a legitimate government (our king has long been silenced), demonstrating the Jedi Order's growing difficulty with politics and the necessities of war.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Ahsoka and Steela are both jealous of each other's relationship with Lux, although Ahsoka is able to get past these feelings easier than Steela, who takes considerably longer to warm up to her.
- Hands-On Approach: Lux does this when he's trying to show Steela how to roll a droid popper through a droideka's shield. Ahsoka is not impressed.
- Innocuously Important Episode: We first meet Saw Gerrera in this episode. While he seems like an over-enthusiastic and over-aggressive member of a resistance movement, he goes on to play a major role in Rebels and commands the Partisans in Rogue One. Further, this is where he learns the skills that make him so dangerous to the Empire later in his life.
- Love Triangle: Both Ahsoka and Steela seem to be rather attracted to Lux.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Saw is rather annoyed by Steela's seemingly reciprocated affection towards Lux.
- Mythology Gag: The Jedi send Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka to train and advise, nothing more. This matches the Original Trilogy's alignment of the Rebellion with the North Vietnamese and the Empire with the US; where the US sent its army into Vietnam, the Soviets only sent advisors and weapons.
- La Résistance: The Onderon freedom fighters.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Discussed. Obi-Wan's main concerns regarding Anakin's plan of training rebels is his fear that they'd be training terrorists. Little does he know he's right, and Saw will one day become the man who will use any tactic if it helps him fight the Empire.
